Ofcom said the plans should see 4G services, which deliver much higher mobile data speeds to phones and other wireless devices, reach at least 98pc of the population in villages, towns and cities across the UK.

Matt Warman said he expected the auction to bring in up to £4 billion to the Treasury. Whilst this figure is significantly less than the £22.5bn the 3G auction raised for the government, it should mean that the cost savings are passed on to consumers, according to the Telegraph Consumer Technology Editor.